Biomedical Applications of Recombinant Silk‐Based Materials. Issue 19 (13th February 2018)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Aigner, Tamara Bernadette; DeSimone, Elise; Scheibel, Thomas
• Is Part Of: Advanced materials. Volume 30:Issue 19(2018)
• Page Start: n/a
• Page End: n/a
• Publication Date: 2018-02-13
• Subjects: biomaterials -- biomedical engineering -- drug delivery -- recombinant silk -- silk processing; Materials -- Periodicals; Chemical vapor deposition -- Periodicals; 620.11
• DOI: 10.1002/adma.201704636
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0935-9648

Abstract

Abstract: Silk is mostly known as a luxurious textile, which originates from silkworms first cultivated in China. A deeper look into the variety of silk reveals that it can be used for much more, in nature and by humanity. For medical purposes, natural silks were recognized early as a potential biomaterial for surgical threads or wound dressings; however, as biomedical engineering advances, the demand for high‐performance, naturally derived biomaterials becomes more pressing and stringent. A common problem of natural materials is their large batch‐to‐batch variation, the quantity available, their potentially high immunogenicity, and their fast biodegradation. Some of these common problems also apply to silk; therefore, recombinant approaches for producing silk proteins have been developed. There are several research groups which study and utilize various recombinantly produced silk proteins, and many of these have also investigated their products for biomedical applications. This review gives a critical overview over of the results for applications of recombinant silk proteins in biomedical engineering. Abstract : Recombinant silk proteins are an interesting class of biopolymers that are well‐suited for biomedical applications. Studies on the use of recombinant silk proteins are summarized, and important conclusions are given. The best features of recombinant silk proteins as a biomaterial are also highlighted, along with exciting future directions.